Echols received her Bachelor's degree from Macalester College in 1973. She obtained her Master's degree and Doctorate at the University of Michigan in 1980 and 1986 respectively.

She authored (with foreword by Ellen Willis), Daring to Be Bad: Radical Feminism in America 1967-1975. The book is divided into six sections, each of which attempts to explain the evolution of the women’s rights movement in America from 1967-1975. Echols writes primarily about feminist organizations and how they functioned in comparison to other civil rights groups of the time period.